[educator.com] Introduction to Probability

The first seven chapters use R for probability simulation and computation, including random number generation, numerical and Monte Carlo integration, and finding limiting distributions of Markov Chains with both discrete and continuous states. Applications include coverage probabilities of binomial confidence intervals, estimation of disease prevalence from screening tests, parallel redundancy for improved reliability of systems, and various kinds of genetic modeling.

This text is designed for an introductory probability course at the university level for sophomores, juniors, and seniors in mathematics, physical and social sciences, engineering, and computer science. It presents a thorough treatment of ideas and techniques necessary for a firm understanding of the subject.

Probability and Statistics are studied by most science students, usually as a second- or third-year course. Many current texts in the area are just cookbooks and, as a result, students do not know why they perform the methods they are taught, or why the methods work. The strength of this book is that it readdresses these shortcomings; by using examples, often from real-life and using real data, the authors can show how the fundamentals of probabilistic and statistical theories arise intuitively. It provides a tried and tested, self-contained course, that can also be used for self-study.

This book was written for an introductory one-term course in probability. It is intended to provide the minimum background in probability that is necessary for students interested in applications to engineering and the sciences. Although it is aimed primarily at upperclassmen and beginning graduate students, the only prere­ quisite is the standard calculus course usually required of under­ graduates in engineering and science. Most beginning students will have some intuitive notions of the meaning of probability based on experiences involving, for example, games of chance. This book develops from these notions a set of precise and ordered concepts comprising the elementary theory of probability. An attempt has been made to state theorems carefully, but the level of the proofs varies greatly from formal arguments to appeals to intuition.